Powerline rebuilding project draws area eyes to the sky

by B.J. Tomlinson

Alert residents may have noticed a huge hovering helicopter flying over and west of Lansing and in the northern Allamakee County area in the past few weeks. The ‘copter is being used in support of a project to replace existing wood power poles with ones of steel.
In November, Greg Leppert of rural Lansing and other local landowners were notified by ITCMidwest, LLC that work would begin to rebuild a 161 kV (kilovolt) transmission line which was installed in 1960 between Lansing and Harmony, MN. ITC is currently replacing the 120 wood power line poles between the Lansing Power Plant and the Harmony, MN substation (about 50 miles).
The project is expected to be completed by May of 2013. ITCMidwest spokesman Tom Petersen said the ITC “... is rebuilding this line due to age of the equipment. It will enhance the region’s electric capacity and meet increasing national reliability requirements.”
The steel poles, which weigh 10 tons each, are set in place on steep terrain by the special heavy duty helicopter rented from a company in Oregon. The helicopter uses 500 gallons of gas per hour and rents for $17,000 per hour, but the process of replacing a pole only takes a few minutes to complete. On level ground, seven derricks are used, instead of the helicopter, to set the new poles in a process that takes the greater part of a day.
Prior to replacing the poles, construction crews trimmed trees and staked structure locations, promising landowners that any damage done to the land or crops would be repaired or restitution made after the project is completed.
Local resident Bob Leppert, who lives in the area and has been watching progress, said the crew is moving further to the northwest and has completed the project to Highway 76. He also said that, historically, ITC has been good about inspecting and maintaining the cleared areas around the poles. The company recently repaired damage created when the construction crew cut through some pasture fences to accommodate large equipment. Leppert said new gates and fencing were installed by a professional fencing company and were top of the line.